Beauty and the Bust [Nine]

[FirebrandPhlox]

Elvira made her way through the dining hall, scanning for a place to sit. She was self-assured where she could sit at any table and get through a conversation with its occupants, but it didn’t mean that the people she sat with would necessarily have anything of interest to say. Though she wasn’t normally one to judge by appearances, she was looking for someone who at least looked interesting to talk to. And then she spotted her. Or perhaps him. Regardless, this person was absolutely stunning, with fabulous makeup, and Elvira needed to met her now.

She quickly sauntered through the crowd and held her hand out in greeting. "Well hello, darling. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Elvira, and goodness do I need to know how you do your look. You’re stunning, so much more interesting than the rest of the riff raff that keeps falling on the doorstep here."

[nineofswords]

For once, G'las found himself absolutely lacking in a companion for her meal, and it was absolutely dull. He was seriously considering just taking her glass of wine and plate back up to his room to do paperwork when an absolutely stunning woman came up to her.

"Well hello yourself," G'las said. "Always a pleasure to meet a fellow greenrider who cares about her appearance." He tossed his hair and gestured to an empty space across from her. "Please join me. I'd love to swap makeup tips." He smiled. "And some of those riff raff are in my wing. You would not believe how some people present themselves first thing in the morning. No care for what kind of impression they're making."

[FirebrandPhlox]

Elivra let out a delighted hum and took the seat offered to her. ”Really though!” She agreed. ”You wouldn’t even find me dead without my makeup on. How some of these folks can crawl out of their weyrs looking like curdled milk on a hot day is beyond me.”

She took a small slip of klah, completely unbothered by the gross image she herself had conjured. She was pleased with herself that she had spotted a companion who was so willing to not only discuss makeup, but seemed to enjoy a bit of catty gossip. Elvira was always on the lookout for someone who shared her sensibilities and love of interpersonal drama.

”Oh, I’m Elvira by they way,” she said, holding out a hand daintily towards her meal partner. ”Charmed, I’m sure.”

[nineofswords]

G'las's expression was absolutely delighted at Elivra's description. "Oh, you are going to be fun," she said. "I hate to speak ill of the dead, but when that's hope people insist on looking, it's hard to keep my thoughts to myself. But one has to be professional and can't simply say such things when they're a wingsecond."

He just as daintily took her fellow greenrider's hand in greeting. "I'm G'las," he said. "Absolutely wonderful to meet you, Elvira, my dear."

[FirebrandPhlox]

Elvira gently took her hand from G'las' and tucked into her meal. "It's wonderful to meet you too. And don't worry, I can say enough for the both of us," she said with a playful wink. "But if you did want to say anything, nobody has to know who said it." She gave her a devilish grin. "That's the beauty of being a Harper, you spend so much time with all these different texts and stories, it can get quite difficult to remember where a particular rumor came from. At least, that's what I tell most folks, and they seem to buy it."

[nineofswords]

G'las took her cues from Elvira and began to eat when the other woman did. "I'll be delighted to hear any and every criticism you care to share, my dear," he said with an expression like the feline who'd just gotten into the cream.

She matched Elvira's grin. "Well in that case, darling, I wonder if you hold your alcohol as well as you hold your secrets? I have a fabulous vintage of Benden wine I've been waiting to share with a similarly minded individual. I know it's still not terribly in fashion to drink Benden wine here at Fort, but you cannot deny that their vintners know how to make an excellent blend."

[FirebrandPhlox]

”Oh that just sounds wonderful” Elvira said, flopping her hand at the wrist in a playful way. ”Those Benden folks might have terrible politics, but you’re right, they do make a fine bit of booze. I’d say I can hold my alcohol well, but don’t you know it, I always finish the darn glass before my grip can be properly measured.”

Elvira looked around, seeing if anyone was listening into their conversation, then leaned in closely to G’las. ”You know why the wine here stinks so bad? The vintners don’t clean the cellars properly, so I’ve heard. They find something unseemly? They just push it out of sight, so the funk just builds up. They think it adds ‘body’ to the wine, but I think it just makes an already terrible product worse.” She leaned back and stuck her tongue out in an exaggerated face. ”I believe it, the wine here didn’t used to be nearly as bad. Back when the old head vintner was in charge the stuff was palatable.”

[nineofswords]

"Yes, politics is one thing, but their ability to make the finer things in life is quite another," G'las agreed. He gave a delighted little titter at Elvira's turn of phrase for how she handled her liquor. "I absolutely know how that goes," she agreed. "I try to be responsible and only ever drink the one glass, but whenever I drink with people, it's the darnedest thing? The glass never seems to get empty, no matter how much I drink. It's like magic."

He glanced around when Elvira did and leaned close, sensing some gossip coming. Her eyes went wide at the information, and he shook his head in disappointment. "It's unforgivable to let the wine taste that bad just because you're too lazy to clean up," she said.

He pointed at Elvira with a fork. "They way I've heard it, the old vintner who supposedly left to go spend more time with his grandchildren? His replacement paid several people to put pressure on the old man to leave so he could take over. And of course the new one is a cousin to a Lord Holder, and the Master Vintners at the craft hall are trying to curry favor with said Lord Holder to boost wine sales, which is the only reason the new one was even given a mastery title in the first place."

[FirebrandPhlox]

Elvira smiled widely when G’las returned with her own turn of phrase to match Elvira’s. This one was really turning out to be a keeper.

She listened intently as G’las gossiped about the change in vintner leadership, holding her hand over her mouth in playful shock. ”A relative of a Lord Holder paying their way into power and infamy? Why, such a thing has never happened in all my days!” She exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

She took another bite from her meal and gave a knowing look towards G’las. ”I wish I could say I remember the good old days without bribery and politics meddling in the Crafts, but if I did, then you’d start thinking I’m much older than I actually am, which is 30, by the way.” She shot him a knowing wink.

”Maybe this one will get his comeuppance though.” She cleared her throat and held up her hands, gesturing as she began her craft. ” Turns ago, I heard this wonderful story about a Lord Holder near Ista. His nephew insisted on pursuing Seacraft, was going to be the best sailor around, and find treasure worth more than any ever found. He went on many voyages, but no matter how many he sailed, the masters wouldn’t promote him, said he wasn’t ready. The nephew gets fed up, and goes to Uncle Lord Holder BEGGING to build him a ship of his own. Won’t leave the old man alone, telling him he’ll find enough treasure to pay him back, plus interest.

“Finally, the rich old uncle pours more marks than I’ll ever see into a beautiful ship for the nephew. It’s a gorgeous ship, made from the finest wood, giant figurehead that was nearly as stunning as yours truly.” Elvira primped her hair and batted her eyes vivaciously. She continued, ”The nephew has uncle moneybags spend even more money on gathering an expert crew for him to command. They do a big ceremony for the ship’s maiden voyage, get most of the Hold to come out and see the nephew off. Real ego trip for the Lord Holder.

“Not 20 minutes after they set sail, the nephew runs the ship on some rocks, the whole thing sinks. The fishers of the Hold all take to their boats to save the crew and the nephew, but dear old uncle spent so much of the family fortune that the Hold lost a whole lot of standing, and is barely a mark on the map anymore.”

She took a long drink from her subpar wine. ”I love a happy ending,” she added dreamily.